Well I’m just waiting on my sister’s wedding photography so I can post photos of my amazing work for her wedding.

My boyfriend and I designed her invitations, table cards and menu cards.

I made the seating chart, floral arrangements and cupcakes!

The cupcakes didn’t turn out exactly but the end result was fun enough. The blue was a blue candy gemstone but it reacted with the buttercream icing and melted down the cupcake. But it had a neat effect like a juicy blueberry so all turned out ok in the end.

Rae an awesome coworker of mine surprised us all with news that she was pregnant a little over a month ago and I promised her I would make something special for her. Then she announced that she was leaving us and moving to another city so I thought better make that treat for her last day. So I web surfed for some great ideas for cookie decorating and I came across a blog where this woman was inspired by a napkin and made some cute cookies. So limited on time I decided to reproduce similar cookies. I think they turned out great. Can’t wait to experiment more with royal icing. I used royal icing for my the wedding cake cookies in my last blog but I didn’t leave myself enough time to make 80 cookies, so they didn’t turn out as amazing as I thought they would. But at least these ones did!

My sister’s bridal shower happened about 2 weeks ago and I decided to make a tower of cupcakes for dessert, sugar cookies for party favors and wrapped boxes as her centrepieces. The theme was pink and white.

The cupcakes were red velvet with vanilla buttercream icing. I decided to make smooth swirls (or as my sister and I call them icing poos, we are very mature) and frilly ones. I also decorated them with little sugar pearls.

The photos are courtesy of Joanne Ratz- O’connell

Bridal Shower Cupcake Tower

Swirly Cupcakes

Frilly Cupcakes

The cookies were sugar cookie wedding cakes and each guest took home 2….it was quite the ordeal icing 80 sugar cookies in one day. My hand almost fell off.

Ever wanted to try fresh marshmallows? Ones that you made? Now you can. It’s actually pretty easy you’ll surprise yourself and your friends with your masterful candy creating skills. My one recommendation is that you use a stand mixer. I used my baby, the KitchenAid Artisan Mixer. The reason I suggest a stand mixer is that the marshmallow batter must mix for 8-10 minutes. Now you can use a hand mixer if you don’t mind standing there holding it for that long.

Alright this is one of the ways you can make lemon marshmallows (the easy way). I used Pure Lemon Extract, but I’m sure fresh lemon juice and lemon zest would add an even more refreshing lemon taste. This is also the recipe I used for Peppermint Marshmallows but I substituted the Peppermint Extract for Lemon Extract. If you’re feeling like regular ol’ run of the mill marshmallows then use Vanilla Extract. You can get as creative as you wish with marshmallows in a range of flavours.

** NOTE: Before you start make sure you have the time to make these marshmallows. They are fairly easy but take a bit of time. The boiling of the sugar and heating it to the right temp will take around 30-40 min depending on how great your saucepan is (mine is cheap and does not retain heat well) and how great your stove top is (mine also sucks as it is ancient). Basically because my pan and stove top were terrible it took around 40 min. **

1. Grease bottom and sides of a 11×7 inch glass baking dish with butter and dust with around 1tbsp powdered sugar.

3. In 2 quart saucepan heat granulated sugar, cornsyrup, salt and 1/2 cup water over low heat. Stir constantly, until sugar is dissolved. Heat to boiling. Cook without stirring around 30 min or so to 240 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer (or until a small amount of mixture dropped into a bowl of cold water forms a ball that holds its shape but is still pliable. Remove from heat.

4. Slowly pour syrup into softened gelatin while on low speed. Increase the speed to high and beat 8 minutes or until mixture has tripled in volume. Add lemon extract and yellow food colouring. Beat for 1 more minute on high speed. (side note: I LOVE my mixer. Best kitchen – aid ever. Get it? haha)

7. Loosen marshmallow from sides of dish and gently lift all in one piece and place on cutting board. Using a sharp, greased knife cut into 1 inch cubes. Dust all sides of each marshmallow by dipping them into the bowl of powdered sugar. Store in an airtight container at room temp for up to 3 weeks.

And there you have it, delicious lemon marshmallows that will leave your friends, family and co-workers in awe of your kitchen genius!